Electronic automated payment systems may be used to reduce the complexity of making payments to individuals and companies. Individuals may pay for items, purchases, and services automatically using electronic payment procedures such as direct debit with a bank account. For example, individuals may make an automated payment from a checking account for monthly utilities.
A company may have a number of business partners with which the company regularly does business. For example, a manufacturer of goods may routinely do business with a shipper who delivers goods, and the manufacturer must make a number of payments to the shipper in exchange for delivering the goods. As a result, companies, such as the manufacturer, may establish electronic payment procedures with their business partners, such as the shipper, to debit a bank account upon shipment or receiving of a good.
Current automated payment systems require users to configure the electronic payment system before using it. Requiring an individual to configure direct debiting of a checking account for a utility bill may not be difficult. However, as the number and complexity of transactions increase, requiring a user to configure the payment system can be burdensome and lead to errors. Companies and their business partners may use multiple bank accounts for different transactions. Further, the companies, business partners, and banks may be located in one or more countries, requiring a user to be aware of the laws and regulations governing bank transactions in each country. Companies also may not be aware that performing a transaction, such as a wire bank transfer between two banks located in different countries, may require payment of additional fees for the wire bank transfer. As a result, when a company is performing thousands of transactions, the fees can total a large sum.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for computer-implemented systems and methods that allow automated payment handling which provides default, but customizable, prioritizations for choosing bank accounts and payment procedures. There is also a need for computer-implemented systems and methods that allow a user to simulate changes to their payment system to visualize the outcome of a chosen configuration.